Successful branding in today's world includes keeping the stamina up on social media. But when you are at the helm of the largest newspaper company in the United States, it's way more important to be cast as the LAST CEO of a once-great empire.

I am sitting here wondering who inside GCI would run Twitter. I could see it being coordinated by Robin as a communications tool. Or I could see marketing or advertising run it. It's not bad as a news/contact source, so maybe Hillkirk would be interested. Hunke could tweet on what he does all day, and his preferences for the best single malts. Hmmm. This is a great mystery. Who inside the Crystal Palace should have responsibility for the corporate Twitter image?

Read through the twitter page at its most active and it's lame, lame, lame. Who follows these corporate 'leaders?' It appears the great digital marketing machine is clueless when it comes to social media ... which is not exactly cutting-edge stuff anymore. Even old-fashioned reporters do a better job in the twittersphere than these pretenders. Embarrassing attempt. And I guess that's enough for another bonus!

11:10 why so bitter? Gannett Digital is the only innovative part of this company. It is the future. So get off your high horse and go back to tweeting your headlines. Old fashion reporters have a great channel in twitter but they certainly didn't design it...or the mobile apps for your websites and all the other things we are innovating.

Why would anyone admit they follow someone/thing on Twitter? A more trivial medium couldn't possibly be created, possibly save one with only 70 characters available. For people with the attention span of a fruit fly, by people who like to hear themselves talk.

I'm over 24 though, what do I know.

btw, I'd sell off an innovative division in a minute for a seriously profitable one, Gannett Digital... if you can't monetize it, don't do it.

4:47 You have got to be kidding. Trivial? Didn't you see that the only -- the only -- Pakistani to detect the Americans landing those helicopters to get Osama bin Laden was someone who Twittered about helicopters flying over his house. The Pakistani air defense, which is on constant alert for war with India, didn't know the helicopters were there until they landed on the U.S. aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea with Osama's body on board. But a Pakistani kid with a Twitter account knew. Trivial, I don't think so.

What benefit did it bring to the Pakistani, his followers, Osama, our troops, his community or anyone else? They gained knowledge, sure. And they did what with that?

The occasional 'important' tweet is drowned out by the sheer flood of @Kevin Nealon "I wish Somalian pirates would dress like pirates and is it too much to ask to stick a parrot on your shoulder? Come on!"

Twitter does nothing more than add noise. Even Angry Birds is more redeeming, you get to punish the evil pigs.

7:41 I am sure Pakistan's military is tearing itself apart trying to figure that out, too. Twitter is just like a newspaper -- there's wheat and chaff, and you have to accept the garbage you are not interested in reading because every once in a while there is something you need to know.

Twitter has a good role to play, in my opinion, but GCI's tweetsters need a power breakfast. What you called a smackdown sounded more to me like a defensive knee jerk. Go digital team! I'm in your cheering section. But whoever is writing the tweets needs some protein. You don't have to be chirpy and self-absorbed to be on Twitter. Hell, GCI has a world of great journalists at its disposal. Well, OK. GCI disposed of many of them. But there still are plenty of good stories to tweet about. You have to look past your own desktop, though. Go hire somebody digital! And see if you can hang on to 'em, please.

Jim says: "Proceed with caution; this is a free-for-all comment zone. I try to correct or clarify incorrect information. But I can't catch everything. Please keep your posts focused on Gannett and media-related subjects. Note that I occasionally review comments in advance, to reject inappropriate ones. And I ignore hostile posters, and recommend you do, too."